An update from Amy, GWW Dreams Take Flight Scholarship Winner!

This is the first journal entry provided to us by Amy Dahlheimer, who was selected for a Dreams Take Flight Scholarship from Girls With Wings. The Girls With Wings 2014 Scholarship Program includes the Dreams Take Flight Scholarship was designed to introduce the world of aviation to someone who would benefit from experiencing the joy of flight. This scholarship is intended to fund introductory flight training to encourage achievement of a stated goal, whether in aviation or in another field of study.  There is no prerequisite flight training required for this scholarship, just enthusiasm and the desire to learn.  The Dreams Take Flight Scholarship is in the amount of $500.00, funded by the generous donations from supporters of Girls With Wings, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Amy's application essay is published here.

I could not be more excited to have been selected as a Dreams Take Flight scholarship winner! I am so excited to become more involved with Girls With Wings and support their cause. 

I was able to start flight training April 30. Flying has been a lifelong dream of mine, and I was beyond excited to get in the air. Training has gone by so fast since I started. With the help of my awesome instructor, I learned how to takeoff, make radio calls, do steep turns, and so much more. I learned how the airplane instruments work, and even learned more about the mechanics of the airplane. The toughest part of training for me so far has been learning to land, but after lots of practice I was finally able to get it. 
 
June 3rd was my first solo flight! I flew a Piper Warrior and took off and landed three times. Getting ready to solo was a little nerve-wracking for me, but when it was finished I felt amazing! Flying solo made all of the training and hard work so worth it. It’s still hitting me that I actually flew a plane by myself. I can’t wait to do it again! 

I am going to have my first stage check sometime in the next week. After that, I will start stage two. My goal is to get my check ride done before the summer ends! 

 I was given the opportunity to attend the Metropolitan Airport Commissions Boot camp, a week long course at the Minneapolis/ St. Paul Airport where a few students from Minnesota State University, University of North Dakota, St. Cloud State, and Metro State learned about airport operations. We got to inspect a runway, which was pretty awesome. We learned about wildlife management at the airport. I got to drive a snow plow used to clear runways. We also got to tour one of Delta’s A33O’s, which was my favorite part. I think it would be awesome to be able to fly a plane like that someday! I had such a great time spending the week learning about airport operations! 

I am also looking forward to being a Minnesota Aviation Career Camp Counselor this summer. I will get to spend another week at the MSP airport with students in 10 to 12th grade and explore all kinds of different aviation career paths! I can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer holds in store for me and for what this amazing career will have in store for me. 

Thank you to Girls With Wings for the scholarship and the support. It means so much to me and I appreciate it very much! 

Essays about flight training from the other awardees will be published here as they are received.